Parallel Cinema

Parallel Cinema also known as Art films or New Wave Cinema is a specific genre of Indian cinema which is known for its serious content, realism and naturalism, with a keen eye on the socio-political climate of the times. This genre is distinct from usual Bollywood cinema.

Origins

Pioneers of this movement were Khwaja Ahmad Abbas, Chetan Anand, V. Shantaram, and Bimal Roy in the 40s. This was the beginning of the golden era of Indian cinema that lasted nearly two decades. Film makers of this era have collectively created a body of work that is known of its technical brilliance as well as for his artistic simplicity and thematic grandeur.

This cinema borrowed heavily from the literature of the times, hence became an important study of the contemporary Indian society, and is now used by scholars and historians alike to map the changing demographics the and socio-economic as well political temperament of the Indian populace.

Right from its inception, Indian cinema has had people who wanted to, and did use the medium for more than entertainment, they used to highlight prevalent issues and sometimes to throw open new issues for the public.

Many of the films in this genre, have also garnered commercial success in an industry known for its surrealism or 'fantastical' movies, and successful stradled art or commercial cinema.

During the 1950s and the 60s, intellectual film makers and story writers became frustrated with mindless dance and song genre of the typical Bollywood film. To counter this, they created a genre of films which depicted reality from an artful perspective. Most films made during this period were funded by state governments to promote an authentic art genre from Indian cinema fraternity.

In the 1960s, the Indian government started financing such films, on Indian themes. Many of the directors were graduates of the FTII (Film and Television Institute of India), in Pune. Ritwik Ghatak was a professor at the institute and a well-known director. The most-known Indian "neo-realist" is Satyajit Ray, closely followed by Shyam Benegal, Mrinal Sen, Adoor Gopalakrishnan and Girish Kasaravalli.

In the 1970s and the 80s, parallel cinema gave careers to a whole new breed of young actors, including, Shabana Azmi, Smita Patil, Amol Palekar, Om Puri, Naseeruddin Shah, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Amrish Puri, Pankaj Kapoor, and even actors from commercial cinema like Rekha and Hema Malini ventured into Art cinema.

In other languages

Adoor Gopalakrishnan extended the Indian new wave to Malayalam cinema with his Swayamvaram in 1972. Aravindan, Padmarajan, T.V. Chandran were the other notable names in Malayalam region.

Girish Kasaravalli, Girish Karnad and B. V. Karanth lead the way for parallel cinema in the Kannada film industry.

Other uses of "Parallel cinema"

Parallel cinema may also refer to the offbeat Bollywood films. Recently notable films are Mr. and Mrs. Iyer, Joggers' Park, Chandni Bar and Dor.

Fate of parallel cinema

The rising costs involved in film production and the recent commercialization of the films have had a negative impact on the so called art-films. The fact that investment returns cannot be guaranteed makes art films less popular amongst filmmakers. Unlike the European art film industry (which had a major influence on Indian art cinema), there is less of an art film audience in India.

Directors

* Khwaja Ahmad Abbas
* G Aravindan
* Jahnu Barua
* Shyam Benegal
* T. V. Chandran
* Budhdhadeb Dasgupta
* Adoor Gopalakrishnan
* Ritwik Ghatak
* Rituparno Ghosh
* Subhash Ghai
* Sonali Gulati
* Prakash Jha
* Shaji N. Karun
* Girish Kasaravalli
* Mani Kaul
* Kalpana Lazmi
* Mira Nair
* Govind Nihalani
* Dasari Narayana Rao
* Jabbar Patel
* Dadasaheb Phalke
* Sridhar Rangayan
* Mani Ratnam
* Nikhil Anand Giri
* Sohail Azam

* Satyajit Ray
* S.V. S. V. Krishna Reddy
* Bimal Roy
* M. S. Sathyu
* Aparna Sen
* Mrinal Sen
* Partho Sen-Gupta
* V. Shantaram
* Biju Viswanath
* Ram Gopal Varma
* K. Viswanath

References

* [http://www.culturalindia.net/indian-cinema/art-cinema.html Indian Art Cinema]
* [http://www.cinemaofmalayalam.net/newwave.html Cinema of malayalam]
* [http://www.upperstall.com/home.html Upperstall]
* [http://www.bollywhat.com/ Bollywhat]
* [http://www.greencine.com/static/primers/bollywood.jsp Greencine]
* Art Cinema of India